Making art is the most joyous activity I participate in. I am committed to using ‘junk’ to make art. Give me something that would otherwise be thrown away and I will make something interesting to look at. Not all art is meant to simply be
...

Making art is the most joyous activity I participate in. I am committed to using ‘junk’ to make art. Give me something that would otherwise be thrown away and I will make something interesting to look at. Not all art is meant to simply be beautiful. Some art is created to challenge our thinking and change our perceptions. When I view the finished piece, I am able to see the whole as being something other than the parts that were once junk. For me it’s about layers and union.

When Miller references Funk Sculpture she is referencing the California Funk Arts Ceramic Movement. One of the first ceramics movements to be impacted by the counterculture influences of the beat movement and psychedelia using ceramics to challenge conventional thinking. The sixties spawned more than anti-war protests, long hair and flower power. It also impacted all art forms, where rebellion against the status quo manifested new art forms and modes of expression. This movement defined a dynamic period in social, political and artistic upheaval that was influential in the development of contemporary American ceramics.

Ceramist Robert Arneson led the charge of the Funk Art movement at UC Davis, where he taught ceramics. Arneson is best known for his work in self-portraiture, taught his students to use humor and non-traditional approaches to the clay. He came to be know as the Father of Ceramic Funk Art. Come see Candace Miller's artwork at Liberty Arts.